UNIFE, the European Rail Industry Association, together with 22 associations representing European key industrial research and innovation stakeholders, call on the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union to develop an ambitious next EU Research & Innovation Framework Programme (FP9) as a strong support for EU industrial leadership.
The next EU R&I Framework Programme should be an ambitious framework programme built on Horizon 2020’s achievements. “We strongly believe that this means increasing significantly the overall EU budget for research and innovation in FP9 within the current discussion on the Multiannual Financial Framework; focusing on a well-balanced three-pillar structure, while allocating an equivalent share of the budget to each pillar; strengthening the EU industrial leadership to guarantee sustainable application and implementation of European research; continuing financial incentives in form of grants for all actors of the value chain, including small & large companies,” the associations said in their joint declaration.
For decades, European Research and Innovation Framework Programmes have been successful in propelling funding, increasing collaboration across stakeholders in different Member States, supporting risk reduction, accelerating time to market and demonstrating mutual commitment to the launch and acceptance of ‘future defining’ innovations, partly by encouraging a diversity of actors in its consortia. These programmes have been contributing, together with national programmes, to scale up European funds in support of R&I, with the objective of allocating 3% of the EU’s GDP to R&D by 2020. As identified by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in his scenarios for the future of the Union, Research and Innovation (R&I) is a key geo-political factor for Europe. Massive European R&I investment, both private and public, notably in applied research is one of the key answers to keep up with global competition. Despite many efforts, the EU (2.0%) is still lagging behind countries like Japan (3.6%) or the US (2.7%) in terms of R&D expenditures as a percentage of GDP, and China is catching up rapidly. With the highest share of R&D spending coming from the business sector, which accounts for 65% of all R&D spending in the EU, it is extremely important to significantly increase public spending both at EU and national levels and support the global competitiveness of European industries. In this context, European R&I Framework Programmes play a crucial role.
“We support the overall objective and architecture of Horizon 2020. When compared with its predecessor, Horizon 2020 achieved major progress in better balancing EU funding over the whole ecosystem of research and innovation. The three-pillar structure reflects quite well the whole innovation chain from basic, blue sky research, over applied research to close-to-market actions (pilots, prototypes). It has managed to better support impact-based research and innovation programmes. (…)Cross-border industrial collaborative R&I must be continued under FP9 aiming at increasing the competitiveness of European industry and European cohesion. Collaborative R&I at European level is needed more than ever before in order to make the ongoing technological transitions a success for both European industry and society,” the joint declaration says.
Share on:
